E/CN.4/2006/78 page 16 this is not translated into laws or practice. The Committee noted that there is still no mechanism for consulting indigenous peoples, but the Government has expressed a determination to introduce one; the Special Rapporteur considers support for the Government and for indigenous organizations to be particularly important in this regard. The Council of Mayan Organizations of Guatemala claims that one of the reasons the indigenous peoples are not duly taken into account in the formulation and adoption of legislation and the execution of governmental policies affecting them is their low level of representation in the Legislature, with 12 per cent in the period 2000-2004 and 8 per cent in the period 2004-2008, which also goes for all State institutions and society in general. 63. Although the Government of Brazil reports that over 70 per cent of recognized indigenous lands have been demarcated and officially recognized as such, the Committee of Experts requests additional information on pending demarcation cases and points out that the Organization of American States has shown that Brazilian Government Decree 1775/1996 delays and prolongs the formalities for the legalization of indigenous lands. 64. Concern has been expressed over information furnished by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), a Brazilian governmental body, to the effect that the demarcation of indigenous lands has not impeded the processes of farming, mining, forestry, road construction, hydroelectric and other types of expansion which have been noted in recent years, affecting the integrity of indigenous lands and the right to exclusive enjoyment of the resources of the soil, rivers and lakes they contain. FUNAI claims that 85 per cent of indigenous lands - including those demarcated and entered in the registers - are subject to a wide variety of violations, such as the presence of poseeros, garimpeiros, loggers, settlement projects, opening up of roads, hydroelectric projects, power lines, railways, oil pipelines, mineroductos and gas pipelines. Encroachment on indigenous lands in the Amazon region is generally motivated by pressures on natural resources, especially timber and mineral resources, and results in the destruction of the environment, with serious consequences for the life of the communities. 65. According to official Brazilian statistics, in 1998 there were 7,203 proceedings under way for the granting of mining titles affecting 126 indigenous land holdings. With the increase in these cases, claims have been laid to a significant percentage of the subsoil of various indigenous land holdings. Most of these irregular mining titles had been awarded after completion of the proceedings for identification and demarcation of the indigenous lands to which they relate. 66. In addition, many comments by workers’ organizations to the Committee of Experts and complaints to the ILO Governing Body concern the exploration and exploitation of natural resources (oil, forests, mines) - without consultation of the indigenous peoples, or through the use of improper procedures - in order to determine whether, and to what extent, these peoples’ interests are prejudiced, before undertaking or authorizing any programme for prospecting or exploiting the resources existing on their lands, without compensation or a share in the profits. Other cases refer to development projects (without consultation or using improper procedures) to assess the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact that planned development activities may have on those peoples. The Committee pointed out that proper application of the mechanisms provided for in the Convention would help reduce social tension, increase cohesion and formulate inclusive development policies.